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Dick Devos – article recap

Dick DeVos is known for many different things. He has written books, he is a businessman, and he is the son of Richard DeVos, who co-founded Amway. Additionally, his wife is Betsy DeVos, who is the current Secretary of Education in the United States.

Dick DeVos and his wife have spent a great deal of time and energy on instituting change when it comes to policies and institutions. They are major donors for the Republican party, and they have actually had a great deal of influence when it came to changing laws that affected many people. In fact, in the early 1990s, Dick DeVos was largely responsible for the foiling of plans to build a multi-purpose Sports and Convention arena in the city of Grand Rapids. He ended up rallying a group of business leaders in the community who ended up having a great deal of influence when it came to the Grand Rapids Skyline.

Betsy DeVos has mostly been focused on changing the landscape of Education in the United States, while her husband has focused more on labor. In 2012, addictive owes came up with a law that made Michigan into a right-to-work state that no longer had union membership as a condition for an individual to be employed. However, these two have more influence than just the changes that they have made in the law.

They are also major philanthropists. The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation gave away approximately 138.7 million dollars to all sorts of programs that were intended to have a great deal of influence on people’s lives. These programs included not only labor and education initiatives, but also programs having to do with leadership, health and human services, churches, and arts and culture in general. One of their most notable donations was made in 2006 towards a children’s hospital in Grand Rapids. Now, because of the donation they have made, families can stay at home, with parents not having to take time off of work to drive to a far-away city in order to receive care for their children. Learn more: http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/richard-dick-devos-jr/

The couple has not always been successful in their endeavors to institute change. In 2000, they attempted to create an amendment to the Constitution that would make tax-funded vouchers available for students to be able to go to private schools. Additionally, in 2006, Dick DeVos put together a very expensive campaign for governor and ended up losing. However, that did not get them down, as they still continue to exercise a great deal of influence in the political sphere today. Their educational initiatives did end up being successful in the end, with 24 states in addition to the District of Columbia now having some sort of vouchers available for private schooling.

Both Dick and Betsy DeVos have always been determined to institute changes that are consistent with their political ideologies. While they have not always been successful, they have definitely made their mark and will likely continue to do so in the years to come.